


Delicate

by orphan_account



Category: Tawur
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friendship/Love, GL, I'm screaming as i write this, Love Confessions, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 09:44:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10383885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A story of how Wina could like Starki more than a friend.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Bahasa Indonesia available: [Delicate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10394925) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account)



Growing up close with a troublesome elder brother, eventually Wina picks up some of his traits. She’s courteous, brave, and strong; both mentally and physically. If one dares to say, she might even be stronger than her big brother. 

Delicate is definitely not the word to describe her. Not that it is a problem for her. It was completely the opposite. She gave herself an approving nod when she beat Wiji in arm wrestle last week, basking in victory at her brother’s expense. 

Being strong certainly has it perks. No one dares to mess with her. No hair pulling, no skirt flipping, nothing... but ugly nicknames. Samson, gorilla, and some others that hurts her heart but she never shows. Usually she takes on her bully with her own hand. That will solve the problem. And if the names get worse, at least she won’t hear it right on her face.

However, no matter how well she puts on façade, Wiji always knows. He is the only one knows. Whenever Wina glares at empty airs, or when her red knuckles clenches, her brother would ruffles her hair until they resemble tumbleweed. He never offers to take care of her bully, but she knows she only needs to ask. 

Her brother is the only person she trusts. But that was before high school; before she meets Budi and Starki.

Budi is someone she gives a special place in her heart, like so many others. He is kind and straightforward and she sees her brother in him. They get along nicely. 

Then, thanks to Budi and Wiji’s participation in ‘Tawur’, it isn’t long before Wina meets her; Starki. 

The girl is everything Wina is not.

She’s petite, flirty, and witty. Her long flowing hair is something Wina has no patience to keep. Her fighting style makes Wina clicks her tongue. Her subtle affection for Budi contrasts to her frank friendship with him. Her loathing Wiji is a sentiment Wina understands, but could never relate. That being says, Wina cannot see how she and Starki could be more than a familiar stranger. 

It turns out she’s in for surprise. Being in the same clique changes the atmosphere between them. Their differences make them gravitate around each other. They gain bits of information, slowly understand what makes them tick. They learn to guard each other’s back and to trust. Strange things happened, events revealed, and suddenly, they do become friends. And after a while, Wina realizes they’re not so different after all.

Once, Wina points out that Starki’s strength is not the same as hers, but it doesn’t mean Starki is weaker. 

“You have never been weak,” Wina says with a firm nod and Starki smiles. It makes Wina paused and thinks how pretty Starki is. Then she wishes she could look as pretty as her. 

“You’re pretty too; just need a bit touch here, and here.” Starki teased, tapping her finger lightly on Wina’s cheek and lips. The stylish girl obviously hints at the lack of face powder and lipstick. Wina, on the other hand, is confused to why she feels embarrassed at the playful touch. 

“…and please don’t fight brutes head on. Us, girls, are expected to be smarter than that. Use tactic. Turn on your girly charm.” 

Wina retorts that she doesn’t have ‘girly charm’, but Starki pulls the bandage a little tighter and Wina squeaks. Starki, the sadist, only gives an amused huff and continues wrapping Wina’s bruised knuckle with bandage, before finally tying its ends into small bow. 

Looking at Starki’s handiwork, Wina still doesn’t understand why her friend and her brother can’t get along. They have the same goal. Their personalities are not that different. Both are smart and a little cunning for the comfort of enemies and friends alike. They are important to her and they have the same genuine concern for Wina. Slightly different, but still familiar. It warms her heart. 

Of course, when she says this to Starki, she would pull an offended face, place a hand above her right chest, and recite the holy prayer – while insisting that she’s nothing like that silver tongue. 

 

***

 

Both of them are still friends even after they graduate, keeping in contact and stealing free time in their busy college life to hang out. 

Starki is still as beautiful, if not more. Her lips are pink with strawberry lip-gloss, small face covered with thin make up, and her raven hair tied in a messy bun. Her slender figure hunches forward over the lunch table and her cheeks presses against the smooth surface like melted marshmallow. It is very unladylike, just as Starki herself complains, but finals week has that effect on everyone.

Wina listens to her rants from ‘Damn finals’ to ‘All boys are all the same’ and calmly sips her lemonade. When Starki moves on to gossip, Wina subtly retells of her telephone conversation with Budi. The man is now far in the end of the country, volunteering as teacher. They both wonder if somehow Budi forgets about the final week – no doubt – but decide that it is Wiji’s problem to deal with. 

That is the time when Wiji comes to their table, complaining about Budi’s whereabouts and the damn telephone signal. Wina returns to her lemonade while Starki picks a petty fight with her brother for disturbing their hang-out moment. 

Wina doesn’t need to monitor their fight. They’re not as hostile to each other now. Thanks to years of tolerating each other presence. Honestly, calm days like this are what Wina likes the most. A brother she could depend on, a best friend that inspires her, another best friend who is always here for her. Years ago she thinks this cliché future is not meant for her. Wina feels like she cannot be happier than this.

 

***

Her eyes find Starki’s. The evening sun highlights her features, painting a halo on her hair. She looks angelic. The girl smiles at Wina and asks her if something is on her face. Wina shakes her head slowly and drops her head backward to look at the ceiling. 

They are alone in Wina’s bedroom. Starki lies on the bed with her head hanging on the edge of the bed, black hair sweeping the floor. Wina is sitting on the floor, back touching the bed. 

“Are you still thinking about that dumb comment?” 

“No,” Wina half lies. The ‘comment’ Starki talks about is not everything she thinks right now. 

“You’re amazing. He is a jerk. Don’t mind what a jerk said,” Starki says and ruffles Wina’s hair. The other girl unconsciously leans into the doting touch and sighs. 

This morning, a man had insulted her. It doesn’t make her angry, only surprised. ‘Monster’ is a word she is familiar with but hasn’t heard for years. Well, the insult was coming out of an angry thief she caught and beaten easily, so Wina should have taken no offense and brushed it off like always. But Starki was standing next to Wina when he insulted her. Her friend then smacked the thief with her stolen purse and threatened to castrate him, right there and then, if he refuses going to the police with them. The thief paled and looked even more frightened at Starki’s threat than Wina’s strength.

And this is what got Wina thinking. 

Starki isn’t a ruthless girl. She is the type to snide than to bark her anger. She curses from time to time, but never with so much venom in it. It is strange to see her lost her composure over Wina’s dignity. It is also strangely flattering; knowing that Starki cares so much about her. Wina wonders if Starki knows how much she means to her. 

Beside her, Starki giggles. Wina glances at her. Starki’ eyes glints like stars on night sky and Wina scoots closer to them. 

“Thinking doesn’t suit you,” Starki explains, reaching out to smooth the wrinkles between Wina’s eyebrows. Wina fakes a pout as the other smiles in glee. 

“I should be feeling offended by that.” 

Both of them know it is just an empty jab, a phrase to keep the conversation rolling.

This is what they usually do. Spending time being lazy cats and talk about nothing. Wina is content and will not trade this for anything in the world, but sometimes her imagination takes wild. She’s trudging over invisible line of what ifs. What if Wina never meets Starki? What if they are enemies? What if they stop being friends? What could make them stop being friends? They both know each other so well now - each other’s good and bad sides - and she can’t imagine of anything that could split them apart. They’re closer than Wina is with her brother, considering there are things that only girls could empathize. 

But not close enough; whispers a voice inside her mind. The overtone is filled with wants. Embarrassment washes over Wina at the same time restlessness coils in the pit of her stomach. 

“You have the zombie eyes again. What are you thinking, honestly.” Starki says in reprimanding tone.

Wina blinks twice before she blurts out: “You.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“You’re thinking about me?” Starki leans on her elbow to take a better look at Wina, who blushes furiously. 

The short haired girl gapes like a fish, the ‘no’ and ‘yes’ bounce wildly inside her mind. She is so flustered that she doesn’t realize the other girl moves forward, closing their distance, and pecks her lightly in the lips. Wina’s brain stops to function. 

Then all of her thought processes come crashing down and she stands up – so fast that the world tilts – takes a step backward, foot slips over a Cosmo magazine, and she falls back with a loud curse. Starki sits up, frowning at the other’s clumsiness and painful groan. 

“Exactly what are you doing, Wina?” she asks.

“What are YOU doing?!” exclaims the other, flustered and out of breath.

Didn’t Starki just kiss her? On the lips? Why is she so calm?! Wina is freaking out and Starki holds her best impassive face and it drives Wina crazy! 

“I kissed you,” Starki deadpans while looking at Wina like she doesn’t understand what a kiss is. Wina, on the other hand, wants nothing but to head-butt the wall –repeatedly– to vent out her frustration. She throws her desperate hands up in the air instead. 

“But why?!” 

“…I’m curious,” Starki says softly. 

Wina doesn’t understand what is happening right now. Her best friend just kissed her out of curiosity. That’s what she said. That explains everything but is really confusing at the same time. Her heartbeat won’t slow down. It’s running wild in rapid rhythm. She licks her lips nervously, blushing again when she remembers that’s where Starki’s lips were. 

She looks at Starki, sees how the girl avoids her gaze and knows this isn’t suppose to happen. Wina’s breathe hitches as uncomfortable feeling settles in her gut. 

“If this is a prank,” Wina begins carefully, “I’m not laughing.”

Because it’s not funny. It’s cruel. Wina tries to think why she thinks that way but she knows this is not what she wants, not what both of them want. 

Starki looks up and nasty eyes glare at her, as if Wina offends her with her words. Determination stretches across those plump lips and her voice is harsh, defensive, when she speaks,

“I’m not. I’m curious but I’m not pulling tricks on you.”

That’s Starki’s round way to say ‘I want to kiss you.’ 

“I’m sorry if it bothers you. I should go now.”

And that’s Wina’s cue to grab Starki’s shoulders, keeping them right where they are, prevents the other from running away.

Starki doesn’t look at her. She casts her eyes down and let her long hair hides her face. 

“Starki,” Wina calls, but the other persistently doesn’t respond. 

She is not moving. She’s barely breathing. But her shoulder trembles slightly under Wina’s fingers and Wina kneels down in front of her, cupping the petite face in her palms. Wina takes a good look on the girl in front of her.

Starki is seconds away from crying. Her face is a train wreck. Her white skin is blotched red. Eyebrows twist; eyes shut tight; teeth biting into quivering lips. She’s trying to block everything out, keeping her emotions in. Wina whispers her name again and Starki only whines, shaking her head, silently begging.

Wina gently brings Starki’s face to her own, close enough until their noses meet, enough to feel long eyelashes flutter against her cheek. Starki takes a sharp inhale, shaky and anguished, and Wina kissed her. 

And then she pulls away.

It’s chaste. A ghost touch. It makes her heart almost explode and so unsure, so she does it again. She presses in, feeling soft lips with her own, comforting the stray tear that falls on her thumb. When Starki kisses back, Wina doesn’t pull away. She stays. 

A delicate hand trails up to her cheek and Wina lets it rest there. Another follows and she keeps kissing those pliant lips, taking in every sigh and sobs and murmuring soft words in exchange. 

Suddenly Wina is tackled onto the floor with Starki buries her face in her shoulder. Her slender arms wrapped around Wina’s neck. Wina asks her what’s wrong, but the girl only shakes her head and hides deeper, hugging her tightly. Wina slowly moves her hands on the other’s waist and hugs back. Absentmindedly, she thinks the smell of fruity shampoo is really nice. 

They stay like that for some time. Starki has stopped crying. She stays in Wina’s arms though, content on matching their breathing rhythm. Wina nudges her gently, but she wouldn’t budge. 

“My feet are numb,” she complains halfheartedly.

Starki huffs. She rolls away from her and sits up on the edge of the bed, looking down at Wina. The other girl does the same, sitting right beside Starki. Their shoulders touch. They look at each other. 

“I like you.” Starki confesses.

“Mmhm.” 

One thin eyebrow shoots up skeptically. Wrong answer. 

“…Yeah, I like you too, I guess.”

Both of the pretty eyebrows disappear behind dark bangs.

“I mean, I’m sure I like you too, Starki,” Wina corrects her words as she does an impressive eye roll. Starki’s gleeful smile is worth it, though. But then it turns into a frown and Wina wonders what she says wrong.

“…I’m not pushing this to you, right? I… don’t need you pity.” 

Wina puts a finger under her chin, pretending to think. In the corner of her eyes she could see Starki fidgets uncomfortably. 

Then Wina smiles. Her eyes are bright and her cheeks blushed in pretty color.

This girl, whose main quirk is her incredulous strength, never thought she could keep such gentle affection in her heart. The emotions she feels are soft and feather light. They leave traces under her skin, giving delightful goose bumps whenever she thinks of them. She wants to relay them all, wants to let the other girl knows.

So she leans in, enjoying the way Starki’s eyes widened and the cute squeak she lets out as Wina kisses her once again.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't be shy to leave comments! I love to talk about this misniscule size of fandom and get lost in its craziness :'D   
> *The muse for this fanfic is one of Ika's illustration on IG


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